Bank of Russia sets forth requirements for NPF interaction with consumers
Non-governmental pension funds (NPFs) will be obliged to inform their customers of the risks associated with pension savings investment or placement, about the register of the fund's agents (if any), and about entities struck off the register. These and the regulator's several other requirements will form the baseline standard of NPF services’ consumer right protection to be elaborated by self-regulatory organisations (SROs) uniting the market’s participants.
Each NPF shall provide its customers (both current and potential) with the following minimal set of information: the fund's past income levels, the guaranteeing of the rights of insured persons by the Russian system of mandatory pension insurance, the principles governing the investment of pension savings and allocation of returns on investment, as well as the guarantee of pension funds’ fulfilment of their obligations to insured persons.
The regulator requires that NPF baseline standard include their obligation to inform the insured about the procedure and terms of moving to another pension fund or to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation. And, should a customer wish to make an early transfer of his/her pension savings to another fund, the NPF shall warn about the potential loss of investment income and provide examples of the estimated funds transferred to another insurer.
Importantly, the baseline standard is required to regulate the relationships between funds and agents: from maintaining registers and elaborating procedures governing agents’ access to operations on behalf of funds to determining the responsibility of agents for failure to perform or for improper performance of functions assigned to them by the fund.
Services users shall be informed of methods and contact information to file appeals and complaints, as well as ways to protect their rights, including information about the possibilities and methods of out-of-court dispute resolution. The baseline consumer rights standard of NPF SROs shall also determine maximum timeframes for consumer complaints and appeals to be processed by funds.
All this information shall be accessible to customers at no additional cost; it shall be written in clear language, published in a legible font and contain explanations of technical terms (if any).
The baseline standard prepared by NPF SROs will be submitted for agreement to the relevant standard-setting committee at the Bank of Russia and will be further sent to the regulator for approval. Compliance with the baseline standards is mandatory for all financial organisations irrespective of their membership in self-regulatory organisations.